Qualcomm to lay off employees worldwide in performance-focused cuts
What's the story
Qualcomm, one of the world's leading smartphone chipmakers, has announced a global job cut as part of a "performance-focused reduction." The decision was communicated by CEO Cristiano Amon in an internal memo on Monday. The layoffs will follow Qualcomm's annual employee reviews and notifications are expected to begin next month. However, the memo did not specify how many jobs would be affected by this move.
Strategic shift
'Layoffs to build stronger performance culture'
Amon said the layoffs are part of an effort to build "a stronger performance culture" at Qualcomm.
He added that the company has "consistently fallen short of expectations" in some areas, and this move is intended to address those shortcomings.
The CEO emphasized that business priorities, organizational needs, skills, and expertise would be considered while making these cuts.
Market challenges
Qualcomm's struggles with declining consumer electronics sales
Qualcomm has struggled with declining consumer electronics sales amid rising memory prices in key markets.
Its shares have only risen 1.5% in 2026, underperforming the S&P 500's over 12% gain and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index's nearly 60% surge.
In its latest earnings report, Qualcomm projected a quarterly profit below estimates and a faster-than-expected decline in revenue from Apple products.
However, it also indicated that growth in data-center and other non-handset businesses would offset lost revenue by fiscal year 2027.
Strategic expansion
Shift toward non-smartphone businesses and AI data-center market
Looking ahead, Qualcomm expects most of its chip sales to come from non-smartphone businesses in fiscal 2027. This is part of a larger strategy to enter the rapidly growing AI data-center market.
Amon stressed the importance of having "the right people in the right roles so they can perform at their best and the company can continue to succeed."